Heading North

had Saturday 21st September
September was still clinging onto the summer as we set off northwards towards the junction with the Northampton Arm and travelling through one of the nicest parts of the Grand Union, golden stubbled fields were the backdrop to our journey towards Weedon Bec. The canal here runs along a high embankment carrying the channel high above the rooftops.
Once we arrived at this busy canal scene we decided to moor up and take a walk into the village to explore the Ordnance Depot that once dominated the whole place.
Built in 1802 just before the Napoleonic wars the intention was to create a armoury outside of London hidden deep in the English countryside, obviously such a place required a direct link to the capital and the Grand Union Canal provided this. An arm was built from the canal into the depot, sadly the link no longer remains but the canal within the depot is still present.

a view down the old Depot canal

The depot is fascinating, I had been there once before on one of our previous excursions down the canal but then it had become an industrial estate and access was restricted, this time I was delighted to discover that a museum had opened in the old guard room that straddled the canal entrance, still with its portcullis in situ.

Portcullis under the Gatehouse

We had and interesting chat with the volunteers running the museum, of  whom had worked for the depot fire service, an interesting job given the things that were stored there. The is a website giving full details of the depot at https://the-depot.uk/history/

Info board at the Ordnance Depot

Returning to the boat we set off continuing our journey towards the flight of seven locks at Long Buckby, fortunately there was a hire boat just entering the bottom lock so we hurried along to catch up and joined them up the flight. We soon arrived at the last lock only to find we had caught up with another boat so our companions went ahead as we waited for our turn. We entered the last chamber, passing under the busy A5, before rising up to the beer  garden of the popular New Inn, a pub we have visited on several occasions to enjoy the wonderful food they serve there, this time however we carried on the several hundred yards to moor just beyond Norton junction where the Leicester Arm joins the main line. We were now on a stretch  of canal we had travelled the previous year. The forecast had predicted heavy rain for the following day so we got underway prepared for a soaking.
We soon arrived at the southern portal of Braunston tunnel before plunging into the darkness, I had mentioned the s curves towards the centre in a previous blog, that time we avoided meeting any one coming the other way, however, on this occasion we met three boats as well as one in front and one behind. Thankfully we got through unscathed before reaching the drop down through the six locks at Braunston. Passing through the popular canal village we called into the chandlers close to the junction with the North Oxford canal. Here the Grand Union turns away to the left, sharing its channel with the Oxford canal, we continued northwards to leave the village behind, mooring a couple of miles further on just as the rain started. That evening we had our first significant rain since June, thankfully most of it overnight.

Inside Braunston Tunnel

Wet weather gear was the order of the day as we set off making our way to Hawkesbury junction and the Coventry canal via the double chambered three lock flight at Hillmorton, this has recently been noted as the busiest lock flight in the country, however with each lock having two chambers progress is usually straightforward. On this occasion, however, two of the locks only had one chamber in operation but there were only a few boats around and a couple of lock keepers making for good progress. Leaving Hillmorton we arrived at Rugby, calling in at the large Tesco, before pressing on to Hawkesbury in heavy rain. The weather had suddenly dropped into autumn with rain and strong winds, the wet weather continued into the following day and it was lunchtime before it cleared enough for us to set off towards Atherstone. It had become a lot cooler and it was with great relief that we reached the moorings below lock five of the Atherstone eleven.
Better weather accompanied us on towards our next stop  along the Coventry canal at Whittington, thankfully it was dry as we tied up.
The next morning we set off in breezy but drier weather, calling into see our old friends at Streethay for fuel etc before arriving at Fradley junction and the meeting with the Trent and Mersey canal. Here we turned left heading north up a very soggy Trent Valley, passing through Armitage and Rugeley in horrendous rain finally arriving at Little Heyward for a well earned rest having covered eighteen miles and four locks.

Passing through Rugeley

Salt bridge

Another day and more rain as we covered the 11 miles and nine locks up to Stone, one of our favourite stops, however this time it was another brief overnight rest before climbing up the locks to Stoke on Trent before arriving at the portal of Harecastle tunnel, we had to wait here for boats coming the other way, we utilised this time by having our briefing from the tunnel operators, once underway we entered, being followed by another boat whose crew thought it funny to scream and shout all the way through!
When heading north through the tunnel the tunnel operators close doors behind and then start up huge ventilation fans with a load roar almost load enough to drown the racket coming from our companion boat.

The southern portal of Harecastle Tunnel

We were soon through and out into daylight, passing the junction with the Macclesfield canal before descending the three locks down to the Red Bull moorings close to Kidsgrove. We were now part way down the infamous Heartbreak Hill and the next morning we descended a further 26 locks to reach Wheelock, the second to last that day almost went unnoticed as being our 2000th lock since leaving Leeds two and a half years previously.

Looking back to Mow Cop we visited it back in May

The weather had been horrendous all day with torrential rain, the mooring at Wheelock were almost flooded as the water cascaded down the flight so we had another night of trying to dry wet clothing before pressing on to Middlewich on, thankfully a drier day. Next day was easier as we travelled on through Anderton and the following two tunnels mooring at a lovely spot overlooking the Weaver valley. We had arranged to meet friends Dave and Anne at Lymm the following day so we were soon off passing through Preston Brook tunnel to join the Bridgewater Canal. the weather had improved significantly as we arrived at the popular village, part of which had suffered flooding in the recent deluge. We met Dave and Anne joining them for dinner at the canalside Golden Fleece.

Southern portal of Preston Brook Tunnel

Worsley Lighthouse

Another long day took us onto the the Leigh branch of the Leeds Liverpool where we moored opposite the large Waterside Inn, this had been yet another wet day, followed by another as we made our way through the two locks at Poolstock to moor below the Wigan flight and its 21 locks. Thankfully we met Peter, one of the incredibly dedicated volunteers that work the flight, he told us to sign up to the Facebook group, The Wigan Flight Crew, and let them know we were ascending the flight the following day. We did this and were delighted to find a lot of help appear to get us through the tough day, a great asset to these locks. Once at the top we continued along, to moor at Adlington.

Struggling through weed above Wigan

The half way marker at Church

Once above the Wigan flight we always feel that we are almost home and indeed only a few days away from Yorkshire. The next couple of days took us through Chorley, Blackburn, Church (the halfway point of the Leeds Liverpool ) and Burnley climbing the three flights of locks before reaching the summit at Foulridge and a trip through the tunnel.

The western portal of Foulridge tunnel

We carried along to reach our home county of Yorkshire travelling the summit pound, one of my favorite sections on the whole network. We reached Barnoldswick to tie up for the night and took a walk into the town to explore another place that we had never visited. I like d the town with its stone buildings huddled in a hollow amid the glacial drumlins that characterise this area.
We called into a small pub  McCullough's and the adjacent cafe/bistro next door, we enquired about food as the locals in the pub suggested that its a great place to eat. They accommodated us as it was early evening so we moved into the next door and had  the best Tapas we have ever eaten, thoroughly recommended if you are ever in the area. The only downside was that it poured with rain on our way back to the boat.

Flooding in the Aire valley near Kildwick

The next day we dropped down through the seven locks of the picturesque Bank Newton flight and the further few locks into Gargrave, unfortunately most of the moorings in the village were closed due to the towpath being upgraded luckily we managed to find a spot just below.
The next day we were joined by friends Duncan and Jude, Lucia went off with Jude to spend the morning shopping in Skipton whilst Duncan and I took the boat down.
We reconvened with the girls on our arrival and spent and enjoyable afternoon together.
During our trip north we had developed a shudder from the rudder and  into the tiller arm, we called Pennine Cruisers to see if they could have a look at it for us, this meant that we had to be lifted out of the water and they kindy managed to squeeze us into their busy schedule.
Repairs completed, we returned to Skipton and met up with Rob and Judith, with whom we had travelled round the country a few years ago. We went for dinner at the Railway, another great pub for food. After a great evening catching up it was time to move on so we made our way down to Riddlesden through a lock free section but passing through 15 swing bridges. We spent a couple nights here catching up with family who live locally including a lovely Sunday lunch with Anna, Nick and Nats.
The next day was a dry, if a little chilly, trip down to Saltaire, passing through the iconic Bingley Five Rise locks where, surprisingly for October, we had to wait for a boat to complete its descent and another to come up.
Tuesday saw us reaching Rodley where we tied up to await the river levels to drop, we had planned to spend the winter in Dewsbury and that meant journeys along the river sections of the  Aire and Calder, both in flood due to the very wet three weeks prior to our arrival. On our approach to Rodley we had noticed an Egret, quite a rare bird in these parts, it was sitting on the pier at Apperley Bridge as we past and a frequent visitor on the bank opposite the boat at Rodley.
The next morning, as I climbed out of the boat I was approached by a young lady who enquired as to whether we had seen the Egret, unknown to us it had been causing quite a stir in the area and some people disbelieved it existed. It turned out that she was from radio Leeds and interviewed me about our sightings, as if on cue it made an appearance as we talked, confirming its existence on local radio.
Whilst moored here I decided to change the gearbox as we had developed a bit of noise and vibration during our travels, this job was a tough one mainly due to having to realign the engine to the prop shaft. This really was a struggle having to lever the engine into position which of course moved each time I tightened the mounting bolts, it took a couple of hours to fit the new box and another six to get it aligned, finally done a quick test run showed immediate improvements.

The elusive Egret

By Monday 28th October the river levels were dropping so we left Rodley to get down to Leeds before the locks closed up for the winter. On our arrival the level gauges were indicating that it was still unsafe to proceed, but by the following morning they had dropped to amber on the level gauge indicating proceed with caution, with more rain in the forecast we decided to move on, arriving in Stanley Ferry on Tuesday evening.
I called CRT to check that the flood gates at Thornes and Wakefield were open. These gates are situated at the up stream end of the short lock cuts that by pass the weirs, once closed they cannot be re opened until the levels equalise so they are usually the last gates to be opened. Luckily they had managed to get them open that morning so we could proceed up to Dewsbury and the sanctuary of the Marina that would be our home for a few months.

Back to the canals

Wednesday 4th September 2019
Leaving the River Nene behind us we ascended the first of the 17 locks through which we needed to climb up to the Grand Union. The weather was a fine if a little blustery, as we made our way along the channel made narrow by the presence of thick weed. Our route took us through the outskirts of Northampton soon reaching the large bridge carrying the busy M1 above us.

Lift bridge outside Northampton

 This point marks the steepest part of the ascent with the locks coming in close succession, fortunately we were joined by a local chap whom as well as helping us up the locks, provided a wealth of knowledge about the surrounding countryside.

Climbing the Northampton 17

In no time at all we reached the end of the climb and, passing the busy hire boat yard, arrived at the junction at Gayton, there are full facilities here although on this occasion they proved tricky to get at as the wharf was busy with historic boats on their way down to Stoke Bruerne and an awkward wind.
We turned left here resisting the temptation to turn right and head north, we were heading south to join the historic boats at the 1940's weekend at Stoke Bruerne, we travelled a mile or so south before tying up for the night amid beautiful English countryside. Autumn was just around the corner but the summer was still with us with warm sunshine through the evening.

Blisworth canal warehouse

The following morning we were up early and soon underway passing the large warehouses at Blisworth wharf, before reaching the northern portal of the impressive Blisworth Tunnel, the third longest in the country, some  2,811 mts long and 143 ft below ground at its deepest point.

The northern portal of Blisworth tunnel

Partway through the tunnel just before the relining

 The tunnel was restored in the 1980's by British Waterways, a long section had to be relined, to do this they used a technique employing concrete rings gouted into position. This was used to test out some of the procedures that we proposed for the building of the Channel Tunnel. lots of information about the tunnel can be found here.
Leaving the tunnel we immediately found ourselves passing lots of historic boats moored all the way down to the village beyond. There was no hope of mooring here so we pressed on hoping there may be a spot further on. We past through the village, descending the first of two locks before finding the last two remaining places at the end of the long pound before the third lock.
Feeling relieved to have found a spot we moored up before taking a stroll upto the village, busy in its preparations for the weekend.

40's weekend Stoke Bruerne

The 40's weekend starts with music in the pubs on the Friday night before bursting into 40's life on the Saturday and Sunday. There are plenty of things to see and do here, there are war memorabilia stalls, re-enactments, vintage vehicles and entertainment at various locations. We really enjoyed our few days here, we met up with my sister Carole along with Jim and their son Tim with his partner Amanda and their son Henry.
One of the features of the festival is a floating market with numerous stalls on boats selling all manner of things,  whist chatting to some of the stall holders were were informed that there was a festival in Aylesbury Town Basin the following weekend. We decided to continue south on the Monday morning dropping down the five remaining locks that make up the Stoke flight. We pressed on through Cosgrove passing through its single lock onto the long pound that circles its way around Milton Keynes. Just below Cosgrove we passed over the River Great Ouse, a much smaller affair than the majestic river we had spent half the summer exploring. The crossing over the river is made via the high Iron Trunk aqueduct.

Crossing the Great Ouse on the Iron Trunk aqueduct

Pressing on through Wolverton we continued our circuitous route round the city, this long pound is popular with moored boats who move up and down the pound without ever travelling far from the city, this makes for a long day on tick over passing by.
We reached our chosen spot for mooring alongside the extensive Campbell park that lies between the canal and the city centre.
Another fine day greeted us the following morning as we continued our trip south, just beyond our moorings we reached the Campbell Wharf Marina beyond which is the start of the proposed link to Bedford and the Fenland rivers.
Reaching the pretty Fenny Stratford lock, with its swing bridge crossing the chamber and the Red Lion pub alongside, we started the long climb up to Marsworth Junction. The next lock was the single at Stoke Hammond before we arrived at the three locks at Soulbury, thankfully with attendant volunteers to help us through. The next stretch of canal is accompanied by the busy West Coast main railway line nearly all the way to Marsworth, it is quite a pretty length with rolling countryside around. It wasn't long before we reached the idyllic Globe Inn nestled in a valley making it feel quite
remote, we stopped here in 2016 on the night of the momentous Brexit vote, waking the following morning not quite believing the result.
On this occasion however, we pressed on climbing through Leighton Buzzard lock and the town itself. There is a very useful mooring here, right next to a large Tesco, with time limited moorings, we pulled here to take on provisions before climbing three more locks to moor in a beautiful peaceful spot above Church Lock.
We set off again in lovely weather to climb the last nine locks before reaching Marsworth, here we rang the Aylesbury Canal Society to check to if we were ok to moor in their marina. Having secured a place we carried on down the Aylesbury Arm through the 14 narrow locks to arrive at the marina around 5pm making a long and tiring day.

The narrow sections on the way down to Aylesbury

Aylesbury
We have stayed at this marina previously and always enjoy stopping here, the facilities are extensive and well maintained by the society, who always welcome boaters as it keeps the canal navigable and well used, we feel it is worth the hard work to visit. My sister lives in Aylesbury and we enjoyed almost a week here. The festival was a really good day with lots of music, street food and good beers.
We also enjoyed visiting the Millwrights, Jim's local pub, it is always vibrant with lots going on.
On the Saturday morning we went along to watch Jim play his guitar, with his guitar group, at a local church open day, whist sat in the audience we noticed Scruff tucking into a large slice of cake, whilst everyone was watching the show she had sneaked along the row of chairs and found a ladies a bag below the seats, she had quietly pinched the cake from within the bag and brought it back to enjoy whist the show went on. Seeing that the dog enjoyed cake, the local priest went off to buy here another!

Scruff meets a full sized Wheaton

We had passed the middle of  September and our thoughts were beginning to return to our journey north and so it was on a fine and warm September Tuesday, we set off  back up the locks to the main line, joined by Dad and Jim who accompanied back up to Marsworth.

Heading back up the Aylesbury Arm

Mooring up just north of the village we made our way down to the Anglers Retreat for a few cooling beers and a lovely dinner. Dad and Jim returned back to Aylesbury with Carole before rejoining us the next morning for a trip back down the locks to the Globe below Leighton Buzzard lock.
We were fortunate to find a mooring at this popular spot and went off to the pub for more beers and another fine dinner.

The busy Globe Inn

Dad enjoying the sunshine

The next morning we set off again in fine weather, September had been really kind to us, and we made our way back through the long slog around Milton Keynes before returning to Cosgrove where we stopped on a beautiful evening, we were treated to the sight of a hot air balloon drifting slowly westward above the water.

Tranquility below Cosgrove

Continuing north, again in good weather we made our way back to the Stoke Bruerne flight and began our ascent to the village, part way up we were again met by Dad, Carole and Jim who joined us for a trip through the tunnel.
We arrived at the northern portal of Blisworth Tunnel and continued along to the moorings at the far end of Blisworth village, these are pleasant moorings just a short walk from the local amenities consisting of a shop and a pub, we had intended to go for dinner at the Royal Oak, unfortunately the restaurant was closed due to there being a funeral. Jim and Carole  had left a car there so they

were able to run us all back to Blisworth to dine at the Navigation.
We said our goodbyes and returned to the boat to ready ourselves for the trip back up north.

Summer continues on the Grand Union